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NEW DELHI: The primary US spacecraft to land on the Moon since 1972, Odysseus, entered a dormant state because the lunar night time started. Whereas the mission marked the primary non-public firm’s moon touchdown, Intuitive Machines search engine optimization shared with reporters the intention to “wake it up” in round three weeks when daylight returns.Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus outlasted expectations regardless of touchdown on its facet, dealing with points with solar energy and communication.The top got here as flight controllers acquired Odysseus’ final picture and instructed its laptop and energy system to standby. This paves the way in which for the lander to probably get up in one other two to a few weeks, supplied it weathers the tough lunar night time. Intuitive Machines spokesman Josh Marshall mentioned these closing steps drained the lander’s batteries and put Odysseus “down for a long nap.”Nonetheless, previous to Odysseus’ moon lander coming into the two-week lunar night time, it despatched a closing transmission that includes the cratered lunar floor and a distant shadowed Earth crescent.”Before its power was depleted, Odysseus completed a fitting farewell transmission,” Intuitive Machines tweeted on X (previously Twitter). They added, “Received today, this image from February 22nd showcases the crescent Earth in the backdrop, a subtle reminder of humanity’s presence in the universe. Goodnight, Odie. We hope to hear from you again.”Earlier than shedding energy, Odysseus transmitted what Intuitive Machines described as a “fitting farewell message.” Captured proper earlier than touchdown, the picture shows the lander’s underside on the moon’s pockmarked floor, with a small crescent Earth and Solar within the background.Odysseus, funded $118 million by Nasa to hold six experiments, marks the primary firm in Nasa’s business lunar supply program. Sadly, it failed to succeed in the moon, as its lander crashed again to Earth in January.Seen as precursors by Nasa, these non-public landers purpose to pave the way in which for upcoming astronaut missions within the subsequent few years. The final US moon touchdown earlier than Odysseus was by Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt in 1972.(With company inputs)

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